True Blue Podcast

We chat with Retired Staff Sergeant Chris Horsley about his career path and some of the finer details of what he got involved in while serving the community of Saanich for the 29 years. Chris was born and raised in Victoria, he credits the Police Reserve Program for creating an interest in a policing career.  His experience includes spending time in School Liaison, Crime Prevention, Youth Detectiv...

Meet Cst. Sarah Kaufman one of the 5 new recruits in Class #170.  Sarah is a former 5X World Bantamweight MMA Champion, she had an impressive 17 year career in the MMA fight world.  Sarah originally went to University to become a cardiovascular surgeon but later decided that working in a laboratory wasn’t going to be for her.  During Sarah’s fight career she spent a lot of time teaching young kids...

Learn more about the new Co-Response Team (CRT) - a partnership between VicPD and Island Health.  The CRT has been up and operational since early 2023 and is intended to be "a central response resource for calls involving presumed mental health issues." https://vicpd.ca/2023/01/30/island-health-and-vicpd-launch-co-response-team/ Our guests help describe the role and effectiveness of the...

The Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) is honoured to share a discussion with other Canadian Police Podcasters on this unique episode of the True Blue Podcast. "10-5" - Ontario Provincial Police Association - Josh Jutras & Scott Mills "10-33" - Nathan Kapler (former RCMP) "Bend Don't Break" - Delta Police - Chief Neil Dubord "The Quiet Professional"...

Daryl Baswick interviews Staff Sergeant Jennifer Ames in this fantastic episode.  Jen talks about her time in the Homicide Unit and the day she got a confession from the killer - but don't stop listening - she gets another confession for a previous murder as well! (Traigo Andretti — convicted for the 2013 homicide of Jennifer McPherson, to whom he was married, and for the 2006 killing of Myrn...

Angela Van Eerd and Fiona Ford take over hosting duties of the True Blue Podcast and decide to interview regular host Matt Waterman. Matt served VicPD from 1991-2022 and is most proud of his 15 years of service on the Executive of the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU). Sound editing done by Todd Mason. More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU): -        Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD...

We chat with Chantal Ziegler as her 33 years of policing is coming to an end.  Chantal joined the RCMP in 1990 at 21 years old, she attended her basic training at Depot in Regina as part of an all French speaking troop.  Upon graduating, the RCMP decided to post her to the small Hamlet of Evansburg, Alberta an all English and Portuguese community!  One of her favourite memories in the RCMP was bei...

We talk basketball with Cst. Jenna Carver and celebrate 50 years of high school basketball tournaments put on by the Victoria City Police Athletic Association (VCPAA). Jenna played college basketball for the VIU Mariners and grew up in Nanaimo, BC.  She headed the organizing committee this year on behalf of the VCPAA and hopes to grow the tournament over the next 50 years! The VCPAA also hosts a l...

Get to know the 2023 VicPD Spokesperson a bit better in this episode.  Cst. Terri Healy has been a police officer for the past 14 years.   She is a mother of two and loves working with and for the public.   Terri discusses the mindset required to be a new mom and returning to police work after 18 months off the road and everything that could come with that.  We spend a few minutes hearing Terri&ap...

The President and new Vice-President of the Victoria City Police Union joined us in studio to talk about 2022 in review.  Len Hollingsworth has now completed his 2nd of a 3 year term as President and Dave Jorgensen was recently acclaimed as the new Vice President of the Union replacing S/Sgt. Mike Johnston.  We thank Mike for his service to the members of the Union and send him good wishes for his...

Former Police Officer Elenore Sturko joins us in studio to talk about her recent election to the Provincial Legislature and becoming the new representative for the residents of Surrey South.  Elenore has a very diverse background and appears to be ready for her new position as MLA.  Her experiences in policing make her a valuable asset to the official opposition which continues to hold the governm...

We get to know Sgt. Joan Elliott a bit better on this episode.  Her current assignment is to manage the difficult job of recruiting new officers, jail guards, special constables and reserves.  Joan has served her Country as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces; she played rugby in university and after watching the TV show “Cops” she decided to apply at VicPD in October 2000. Her career includes t...

Sgt. Musicco currently serves as the Tactical Team Leader of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT).  We’re happy that he recently joined us in studio to chat about how he and his team are doing after a very busy and traumatic past few months.  Six tactical team members were wounded by gunfire on 28 June 2022 in Saanich.  The GVERT serves Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Oak Bay and Cen...

While attending the 2022 BC Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Weekend in Victoria, we got a chance to speak with Sgt. Mark McKinnell, President of the Delta Police Association.  Mark has worked in Victoria and Esquimalt during his 21 years of policing but has served the remainder of his time with the Delta Police Department.  Mark grew up in Campbell River, BC but seems to like mainland life mor...

We hear from Detective Sergeant Dean Jantzen of the Saanich Police Association and current Councillor for The City of Colwood.  Dean has over 26 years service in policing and 4 years of experience in his current Council position.  We talk about some highlights of his police career and even more about his community involvement and vision for Colwood as he stands for re-election. Dean’s experience a...

Sergeant Joan Elliott outlines the Victoria Police Department’s recruiting process for new recruits and for experienced officers looking to work in Victoria and Esquimalt.  She mentions that VicPD is hiring for Civilian positions and often needs to replace Jail Guards, SMC’s and Reserve volunteers, so go to https://vicpd.ca/joinvicpd/ to learn more about all the opportunities. VicPD offers very co...

Two frontline police officers talk about knowing you're pregnant and when might be the best time to notify the employer to ensure a safe work environment for yourself and your child.  Both Chloe Staiger and Jaclyn Flaten share their experiences relating to the Collective Agreement benefits and some of the challenges others might face when becoming a mom on Patrol. The Victoria City Police Uni...

In Part 2 of this episode, Todd talks about the challenges of dealing with his Work Safe BC claim while managing his anxiety, depression and paranoia.  Todd also says, “I want to de-stigmatize mental health injuries that we all get at work, we need to change the culture, if you’re struggling, you’re not alone, you need to reach out and talk to someone.”    Todd's recovery and road back to wor...

Cst. Todd Mason talks about dealing with a challenging situation in his negotiator role only 2 weeks before being rundown by a stolen car on Pandora Ave on September 27,  2021.  Not only did he suffer physical injuries but the mental and emotional effects of both incidents were just as devastating.   Todd talks about the lack of support from Victoria City Council and other factors that contributed...

Meet 2 police officers riding in the 25th Anniversary Tour de Rock event.  The ride spans the length of Vancouver Island and takes place between 24 September and 7 October 2022.  Constable Tristan Williams of VicPD and Retired Saanich Inspector Trent Edwards are two members of this year’s team.  Hear from them about what inspired them to participate in the event. Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock is an...

The True Blue Podcast is proud to introduce Cst. Elle Hamilton, one of our two new recruits in Class #168 that will be training this Spring/Summer at the Police Academy.  Elle was born and raised in Victoria and she continues a legacy of Hamilton's in policing as both her parents were members of the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU).  She attended University in Tiffin, Ohio for 5 years on an...

We are joined by Jason Whittaker, President of the Saanich Police Association and Len Hollingsworth, President of the Victoria City Police Union for a discussion on what took place in Saanich on 28 June 2022.   Both organizations are working together to support the 6 officers injured in this incident.  Emergency medical care and bravery were paramount on the day.  Member wellness and recovery are...

Host Tom Stamatakis is passionate about Mental Health Wellness in Policing, and he was super thankful to interview Dr. Tim Black, Counselling Psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Victoria.   Some of Dr. Black’s focus is on First Responder Trauma and he recently provided instruction to several VCPU members in Trauma and Resiliency Training (TRT).  Dr. Black’s program is a partn...

Dr. Mark Vu has been serving as the Medical Director with VicPD since 2016.   His expertise has been so important in developing programs and improving equipment at VicPD and ultimately has provided enhanced medical care and improved overall member safety. Dr. Vu has been training all Patrol officers on basic medical care and also concentrates on making sure on duty police have access to advanced m...

We're joined by Sgt. Steve Kowan who was the VicPD 2022 representative for the Wounded Warrior Run that takes place on Vancouver Island in late February.  Steve and a number of his family members are police veterans, including his uncle, Sgt. Larry Young, who was killed in the line of duty while serving on the Emergency Response Team with Vancouver Police.  https://vpd.ca/about-the-vpd/histor...